At 6-foot-6 and 261 pounds, no challenge has ever seemed too much for Murphy’s muscle. Stanford’s versatile linebacker, once thought too slender for his sport, has grown into a possible first-round pick in next May’s NFL draft by making up for any shortcomings in his size with his willpower.

The 6-foot-4, 228-pound receiver is developing into one of the team’s top targets after selecting Stanford over eight other schools – including Harvard – because every other program wanted to turn him into a tight end.

“I’ve seen the plays he had last year,” first-year Cal coach Sonny Dykes said. “We’re ready for him to make some plays like that, some explosive plays. He hasn’t had a chance to do that so far up to this point. We need for him to do it.